Contact

Office: Booth 220

Email: lavertu@oxy.edu

Phone: (323) 259-1333

Education: B.Mus., CSU Fullerton; M.M. University of Nevada, Reno

Desiree La Vertu is an accomplished conductor, soloist, and voice teacher in the greater Los Angeles area. La Vertu became the Director of Choral Music at Occidental College in Los Angeles in the fall of 2009. Previously, she was the Director of the Glee Clubs at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Additionally, she was on the voice faculties of Chapman University and the summer graduate program at California State University, Los Angeles. She is one of the solo vocal coordinators and is on the choral-vocal faculty of the Idyllwild Arts Summer Festival Choir.

As a soprano, La Vertu specializes in the oratorio repertoire, and made her Walt Disney Concert Hall debut in 2005 as soprano soloist in Poulenc’s Gloria. Other solo performances include Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem at Disney Hall, Brahms’ Ein Deutches Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, and Bach’s Magnificat, among others. She was a long-time member of the Donald Brinegar Singers, and was a founding member of the female a capella quartet “Diva Complex.”

Initially trained as a pianist, her Bachelor of Music degree is in Accompanying from California State University, Fullerton. She received her Master of Music in Choral and Vocal Studies from the University of Nevada, Reno, where she studied with Bruce Mayhall and Donald Brinegar. LaVertu maintains a private voice studio in Pasadena.